Reed & Radley - Bongo Lover (Grass Green Recordings)

The latest Grass Green Recordings release is of a style that has traversed from Manhattan to Manchester, from Brooklyn to Bradford - with love. For some mad reason garage, the dominant sound of the buzzy New York and New Jersey scenes, found a willing underground audience in northern England in the early ’90s. Clubs like the Hacienda and Hard Times embraced garage gurus such as Todd Terry and Tony Humphries much like they were their own. Reed & Radley were amongst that crowd, spending many nights lost to the dance floor and many paychecks lost to shrink-wrapped gems on labels like Strictly Rhythm and Easy Street. Now living in New Zealand, the Bongo Lover EP is their tribute to the NY and NJ garage sounds of that day, filtered through the styles and scenes that followed - both of a time and capable of going off like a bang now.

“Keep On” - A motto of the relentless, “Keep On” kicks things off with a crunchy four-to-the-floor beat complimented by skipping snares, hopping hats, and a deep, bubbling bass. The meat of the track is built around smooth pads and an ever-morphing rubbery synth riff which, with some jiggery-pokery of the filter, is eventually set free, sending fizzing, twisted stabs whizzing through the mix. There’s a hint of Wild Pitch about the reversed stabs, rides, and vocal refrain but the complexity of the main refrain and panned toms bring things right up to date.

“Don’t Let Me Down”- Even the most underground dance floors need a piano anthem now and again - here’s one that won’t let them down. Bright, simple chords are underpinned by a bouncing bass, hypnotic Korg organ motif, and cut-up vocal line. If that’s the ‘then,’ the ‘now’ comes direct from a Detroit basement in the form of pitched-down stabs. And it’s all enveloped by a string so warm it could be used to advertise Horlicks.

“Keep On (Shallow Taxi Club Hard Dub)” - What’s a Shallow Taxi Club without a showy driver? This Hard Dub of “Keep On” is an uncompromising and aggressive take from the self-pronounced producer-not-DJ. It’s verging on Mr G-style techno but retains enough swing and bounce to appeal to peak-time, bigger room garage floors.

Inland Knights - “All cuts are strong. Good stuff!”
Paolo Rocco (Real Tone / Klasse) - “Dope music!”
Graeme Park - “Groovy, baby.”
Giom - “Nicely done!”
Severino (Horse Meat Disco) - “Pretty cool stuff.”
Spettro - “‘Keep On’ is simply amazing. Full support.”
Nick Holder (DNH Records) - “This is fire!”
Tyler Stadius - “Feeling all three. Great timeless sound.”
Cyclist (Homebreakin / Punchout!) - “Quality stuff!”
Joey Silvero (Distant People) - “This grabbed me as soon as the groove hit, There’s a really infectious feel to this … made me smile right away.”
Sebastian Davidson (Seamless / Night Drive) - “Classic and raw!”
Phonatics (Housesession Records) - “This is sex house!”
Craig Stewart (DCSTrax / Montana & Stewart) - “I’m feeling the original of ‘Keep On’ … those synth stabs are hot!”
Bruce Tantum (Time Out NY / Resident Advisor) - “Three winners! All right up my alley … fantastic, thumping-yet-deep house all around.”
Michael Fossati (Spirit of House) - “Gorgeous old skool inspired late night gem guaranteed to put a spell on you.”
Black Mighty Wax (Irma Records) - “Reed & Radley show great love for those good ol’ days … house music all night long!”

Available now from Juno Download and Beatport.

Shallow Taxi Club - Nights Turn Brighter (Grass Green Recordings)

Grass Green Recordings sends another Kiwi-branded transmission of funky four-on-the-floor disco, this time courtesy of Auckland-based producer Shallow Taxi Club. A bit of an enigma, Shallow Taxi Club has absorbed inspiration from years of vintage house music and disco history and locked himself in the studio, never to be seen again. The only evidence of his existence are random sound files send forth to the Grass Green offices, some recent examples contained on this release. With a little help from DJ duo Monkey Boots (who the great Greg Wilson recently referred to as one of his favorite acts of last year) the Nights Turn Brighter EP has been assembled, featuring four meaty cuts ready to (strobe)light up global dance floors.

“Flashback” - Sometimes one needs to sack the subtle and mainline a shot of pure four-to-the-floor adrenaline. Sometimes one needs an anthem. Well, hello “Flashback.” Not so much embracing the ‘90s garage resurgence as bending it over a table and knocking it up, Shallow Taxi Club goes for the jugular. It’s got dynamic drums and a tripped-out arpeggio before a monster ’Haven’t-I-Heard-This-Before’ piano line and rousing vocals signal dance floor delirium. Monster.

“Mark My Words (Monkey Boots Mix)” - Hey, hey they’re the Monkeys, but there’s no monkeying about. The Boots boys hit the spot straight up on their first remix commission with an edgy, epic take on the original. Built on a rock-solid groove, this is the sound of very late night deep disco tomfoolery. Gone is the original vocal and the guitar solo, replaced - at first - with fluttering synth chords and an automated, arpeggiated analogue line. Then a breakdown, a breath or two, and . filtered mayhem. The guitar loop is augmented by the return of the arpeggios and nagging, stabbing chords. A new vocal lifts things even further before a twinkling organ motif, trippy effects, and spacy chords send everyone home happy.

“Mark My Words (Disco Edit)” - One for the swaggers. An infectious guitar groove gets the full Shallow Taxi Club treatment. Some serious additional production spins this track on its head and boots it onto the floor. The pared-back yet ever-building intro doesn’t really suggest what’s coming. Then there’s a sudden, neat drum fill and we’re off. Beefed-up beats and a rolling bass lay the foundation while Rhodes stabs and synth washes add texture and drive before tripped-out brass and a twisted synth line seal the deal. Plus there’s an epic guitar solo and a f*-you vocal. It’s got everything. Like a 2 AM cab ride round the maddest clubland in history.

“Melody Of Creed (Monkey Boots Remix)” - Warm like a good hug, the Monkey Boots mix of “Melody of Creed” is proper smile tackle. Lush pads, smooth washes, and skittering bongos are layered over an old-school bass line before a dreamy, uplifting vocal leaves one feeling, well, a little better about the world. Smooth analog synth stabs lift things further before tricky vocal FX and a dubby acid line leaves everyone snug as a club in a dub.
The track ”Melody Of Creed (Monkey Boots Remix)” is available exclusively from Juno Download as part of the full EP package.

James Curd (Greenskeepers) - “Nice EP!”
Tensnake - “Very nice disco cuts … my favorite is ‘Mark My Words.’”
Sunshine Jones (Dubtribe) - “Beautiful.”
Giom - “The Monkey Boots mix of ‘Mark My Words’ is cool.”
Diz (Vizual, Classic) - “Sexy disco!”
Mousse T. - “Dope!”
Erik Rug - “I’m really digging ‘Flashback’ and ‘Mark My Words’ … cool stuff!”
Vincent Kwok - “I’m really feeling ‘Melody Of Creed.’”
Hippie Torrales - “Great disco feel.”
Jim Stanton (Horse Meat Disco) - “Perfect for the minute, a fresh summer feel. I like this.”
Nick Holder - “I’m digging ‘Flashback.’”
Robbie Hardkiss - “I’m digging the sweet, spacey, soft disco vibe of ‘Melody of Creed.’”
Joey Silvero (Distant People) - “Super funky disco romp … I like the laid back vibe on the Monkey Boots remix. Great mood created.”
Sarah Favouritizm - “Yeah … really cool!”
Tony D’Onghia (Radio Koper-Capodistria) - “I really dig the Monkey Boots remixes … the sound of summer 2013!”

Available now from Juno Download and Beatport.